SPA Modeler

Day-yum! I quit!

Thanks guys!

I've added the oil sump line at the bottom of the engine as well as a few wires from the magneto.


I'll probably to attempt to apply some weathering to the gear reduction housing and rear engine body before attaching the mounting frames. The rear engine part is connected by magnets and can be easily removed.





I forgot to show how the surgically removed portions of the supercharger duct block off the view at the oil cooler vents.



A modeler at LSP graciously volunteered to cast a resin tail wheel for me but ran into the economic reality of trying to mail a small parcel Brazil to the USA and we had to scrap that idea. To honor his graciousness and also his high expectations for this build, I bit the bullet and ordered a resin set of wheels just for the tail wheel.


It's designed for the Hasegawa kit, is weighted and looks more legit than the kit tail wheel.


The hub opening was on the large side so to get rid of the slop, I punched a small plug of sheet plastic to match the hole.


The plug was fused into the opening with CA glue and a smaller hole was drilled out.



A much tighter fit!

I know I ask this just about every time you get to this point in an aircraft build but ........you are going to open up at least one panel to see that engine detail aintcha? Just so much detail to see there.

Oh the details. Incredible details

Engine looks fantastic

Eye candy... lots of eye candy. Enough to make you drool.

Thanks guys! My work on the engine is not 100% accurate but in order to keep this build moving, I made some concessions. Most notably, the baffle between the two banks of engine cylinders is a lot more complex in reality and the connection of the ignition wires on the backs of the cylinders is hard to discern. I was satisfied to have accounted for two ignition wires for each cylinder head (2x18=36).

mustang1989 wrote: ↑Tue Dec 06, 2022 5:20 am I know I ask this just about every time you get to this point in an aircraft build but ........you are going to open up at least one panel to see that engine detail aintcha? Just so much detail to see there.

No panels will be opened. I like my builds buttoned up to preserve the visual lines of the aircraft. However... the addition of the magnets will make the entire engine/cowling assembly detachable from the front fuselage. If the engine to cowling is a nice and tight fit like it has been during dry-fitting, I won't use glue here. So... my hope is that I'll be able to pose the model with the cowling on and off.

There is so much to see in this thread, but for now let me say that your powerplant is a masterpiece in itself.

Medicman71 wrote: ↑Mon Dec 05, 2022 6:20 pm Wow! The engine looks real!

I could not agree more. Wow, John.

Thank you Greg! Appreciate the kind words! Gotta give credit to Trumpeter for providing a very nice rendition of the Pratt & Whitney Double Wasp engine.

It's time to attach the engine mounting frames. But before I do that, I dirtied up the engine by giving it a fine splatter of dark pastel wash. When you do this on a flat coat, the liquid seeps a bit into the paint and spreads out. Most of it is smudged away with the tip of a moist q-tip but you can leave traces of it behind to simulate the wear and tear that the engine assembly must undergo.


The frames attach to pins on the rocker covers. Each attachment is secured with thin CA glue. Since these parts are painted, the glue joints are not very strong but hopefully there is strength in numbers with each frame having 18 connections.






The magnets allow the rear engine part to be removable when it is time to attach the engine to the firewall.


Fit and position of engine on the firewall looks good so far.



The engine is inserted into the cowling. It's a nice, snug fit especially with the rear frame in place, so I don't think I'll need to glue the engine in... yay!


The engine/cowling snaps into place very strongly and positively.



So far, so good! I'll conduct another test with the prop to make sure the magnets can hold everything in place securely. Once that's done, I'm going work on the engine cowling.

Looks great John!



A little more reference for ya